Watch a Trailer for the New Morrissey Biopic ‘England Is Mine’

Check out the first trailer for the upcoming Morrissey biopic England Is Mine. The film, due in theaters on Aug. 4, will be previewed this weekend at the Edinburgh Film Festival.

Originally called Steven, in honor of Morrissey's given first name, England Is Mine has been described as "more of a portrait than a conventional biopic." Instead of recounting Morrissey's career-making 1982-87 stint as the Smiths frontman, first-time director Mark Gill focuses on his early struggles as an outsider in industrial northern England.

"I can't deny that this is a love letter to Steven Patrick Morrissey," Gill told the BBC, "and the dark satanic mills of Manchester."

Gill co-wrote the script with William Thacker; they earlier collaborated on the Oscar-nominated 2014 short The Voorman Problem. Jack Lowden, who won an Olivier Award for 2013’s Ghosts, stars as the singer. Jessica Brown Findlay of Downton Abbey fame plays Morrissey's best friend, Linder Sterling.

Their aim was to create a biopic that "looks inside the young mind of Steven Patrick Morrissey and captures a glimpse of what he observed and channeled," producer Orian Williams told Deadline, "in order to give us the future music of his thoughts, not only with the Smiths but his solo work as well.”

Since splitting with Smiths partner Johnny Marr in 1987, Morrissey has released some 10 solo albums, the most recent of which was 2014's World Peace Is None of Your Business.